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WASHINGTON — The Adrian Peterson case has started a discussion about spanking.
Allegations that the Minnesota Vikings running back injured his son by hitting him with a tree branch have sparked conversations about corporal punishment and spanking, what it is and if it’s OK.
Nationwide, spanking is legal as long as the force is reasonable. But the definition of reasonable varies by state. In some states, a jury gets to make the decision. But the general consensus in most places is if there’s an injury, the punishment has crossed the line.
Also, it seems as a country, the views are changing about if spanking is acceptable. The use of spanking has been on the decline for the past few decades.
A 2011 study by the University of Texas at Austin found African Americans were most likely to spank, with 89 percent of black parents saying they had spanked their children. Eighty percent of Hispanic, 79 percent of white parents and 73 percent of Asian parents said they spanked their kids.
Regionally, a Harris Interactive study found people are more likely to be in favor of spanking if they live in the South and Midwest than in the West or East.
Also, the older a person is, the more likely they are to favor spanking. Eighty-eight percent of baby boomers are supportive of spanking compared to only 72 percent of echo boomers.
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